Let me start by saying that I have only had them 6 days of which I may have played them twice, realistically. I posted a bunch of short takes of me messing around on them but for those who still haven't figured out the ftp site, sorry about that! That was the first time I really had a chance to sit with them.
The second time was last Saturday night's gig. You know, you'd think a drum set is a drum set, but when you have to use it for performing, you really need it to be dialed in to your needs or you are basically on a foreign kit. I could but prefer to NOT have to buy it and use it that night. Give me time to "break it in" before putting them into the fire.
So I used a little bit of both situations. I set them up to an acceptable layout. Played them to understand their tuning and reliability. Decided they should be fine and took a usable configuration with me and was not disappointed or let down. The kit ran flawlessly. No hardware or tonal failures.
I am finding it difficult to describe what happens when I play this kit. I don't know it to be true for any other kit or dw kit but for me what you will read is my experience with this kit and not dw in general. Well okay it is because this is the only experience I've had.
When I first sat down and played these I was somewhat disappointed in the lack of power or Ummph I'm used to with my kits. Solid direct boom and the thicker the better. The thumpier the better. The meatier...you get my meaning...
As I played them more I found an entirely new dimension to what I was hearing and feeling. No longer was I hitting a doon or thud, I was hitting a note. Almost like a deep chime. I don't know. It's like nothing I've ever played. And when you let yourself blend into the kit...there is the thud and thump of the depth of these thin shells.
They aren't loud and proud like the Bubingas but more subtle and blending muscially and tonally with the music more than the percussion side. There is also this pureness of tone with nothing from hardware or any other foreign sound being added. When you hit the tom all you hear is tone. You don't really notice the smack of the stick even as much as the tone of the shell resonating envelopes your drum senses and immerses you in music - for lack of a better description.
They get better when mic'd. I can guarantee they are not loud and overbearing and can be used in almost any venue without being too loud. They are not whimpy by any stretch but in no way offensive to the ear at any level. When the mains went on last night, I could really hear them come through the PA moreso than any of the other times I've played there. And were are on a tile floor with a 12-15 foot tin ceiling so everything can be over bearing without really being that way.
I knew the TAMA's would be too loud but knew the DW's would work. Granted they have coated heads on them which does tame them down but really brings out the tone in them. I like the trade off.
Now I'm not going to say the DW's are the do all for drumming. I still love the power of the TAMA's so they are in no way being dimminished from their place in my stable.
My Pearl Master Customs fall right in between these two. I can achieve that nice tonal response from them and attain similar power to the TAMA's. Right now with clear heads, they are more in line with the TAMA's.
The SONOR's on the other hand also using coated heads tend to mimic the DW's and be more on the melodic side than the power side.
I think I can attribute that to head choices as much as anything else.
But the bottom line in the same room and all conditions equal, there is still a purer tonal emission from the DWs that none of the other kits can compare to.
My best example. I'll compare the Pearls to the DWs. The toms are both awesome sounding and I love the Pearl kick. It has boom and thud where as the DW just has thud. Same heads too btw. The DW would be better suited for recording in this case and the Pearl might be better in a live situation.
To catagorize and this is just to my ears
The DW has it all. Excellent bass, great toms and perfect snare.
The TAMA has excellent bass and good toms. I think my Warlord snare trumps all the others in tone and rim shot response as well as looks and accessories.
The Pearl kit has great toms and large bass. In some cases it might be too much. Another aspect to me is the feel of just handling the drums. They are solid and well built. A great kit for gigging and pure looks.
The SONOR is as close to the quality of tone from all the other kits and has a spectacular finish and very competitively priced line of good drums. They are so similar to Mapex if they had the finish choices, I'd buy a SONOR over a Mapex. Oh wait, I did.
Nothing against Mapex, they are fantastic drums and a great choice for any level of drummer. They just didn't work for me nor did the Gretsch drums. And everyone knows how great Gretsch drums are. It's really to each his own. I found these four brands to meet my needs, requirements and expectations.
With that said, this being Thanksgiving and all. . . I wanted to take a minute and thank each and every one of you for your fun and companionship since I've been a member here. I'm so blessed to be able to do what I do with drumming. I hope my information has been helpful and useful to some of you in some way or another.
Thanks, if you got this far.
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